BacBon Limited

During the pandemic, the schools were shut entirely, leaving 42 million students out of school (Unicef). According to recent research, 90 percent of the students lost their morale to study as a result. To recuperate the education atmosphere, we have come up with an alternative to offline classroom and learning experiences called BacBon Alternative Education Model. 

This model consists of two parts: BacBon Tutoring, which provides both offline and online tutoring services, and BacBon School, which provides learning materials, academic resources, assessment tools. Together, they provide a complete e-learning solution. Due to our limited capacity, we cannot satisfy the needs of millions of learners. For example, in 2020 around 6000 XII students applied for our service, we could only support 1000 of them. With this fund, we will improve our system and operational capacity so that we can provide services to the learners from Grade I-Grade XII. We will also increase the number of tutors and make sure we can support all the learners who do not have access to the Internet by our tele-tutoring. 

In 5 years, we will be able to support 5 million students through our digital learning services with 500,000 students through our tele-tutoring. 

As a student of a marginalized area, I had to struggle throughout my school years to study. Going to school was not that common among teenagers. Schools were not available. I had to walk 4 miles every day to attend school. There were hardly any trained teachers, the school did not have a library or any other learning facilities. Due to financial considerations, I could not get any private tutor. There was no role model to get inspiration from. It was tough to continue. After a lot of hardships, I managed to break the barrier and got a chance at the prestigious Dhaka University. I was the first student to ever get into a university from my island village in 40 years. 

I believe education is the key to change fate and fortune. Therefore I'm committed and working relentlessly to make quality education accessible for everyone. I’ve founded BacBon School and BacBon Tutor. We are supporting 100,000 learners every year. Because of my contribution to this field, I got numerous awards including the Youth of Asia Award, the Finalist of Dell Social Innovation Award, Takeda Entrepreneurship award from the University of Tokyo, Japan. 

I want to create a platform where every learner has access to quality education.

Due to lack of available trained teachers, high student-teacher ratio, absence of lab facilities, the poor purchasing capacity of academic resources, the rural students of Bangladesh are deprived of access to quality education. This pandemic has made the situation worse. Schools have been completely shut since March 2020, leaving 42 million students out of school. The online classes offered by schools and other private institutions fail to provide interactivity and assessment mechanisms, according to UNICEF Report. 

To address the problem, we have come up with the BacBon Alternative Education Model. We are providing a complete e-learning solution -video lectures, MOOC classes, online interactive sessions with teachers, assessment materials so that students can get the classroom experience virtually. 

For students, who do not have access to the Internet and smart devices, we provide Tele Tutoring where tutors help the learners over the phone. During the pandemic, we provided Tabs and Tele Tutoring to around 1500 students in partnership with Asian Development Bank (ADB) and e-Education NPO. 

Our goal is to provide access to quality learning opportunities to around 10 million disadvantaged learners. 

Innovation is the key to our work. When we started DVD lectures based on the e-Education project in 2010, nobody believed it would work. Our innovation was a tremendous success proving everyone wrong. The same is true for our BAE model. 

In Bangladesh, during this pandemic, a few of the companies started online classes, video lectures. Some of them are doing tutoring. Nobody is giving them a full classroom experience, that is, interactive learning and evaluation, feedback system. None of them have any assessment system. None of them support any dropout students. 

In our BAE model, we cover all of them. Learners get interactive online classes, MOOC lectures, in case anyone missed the class, assignment, and test accordingly. In this way, learners are getting the same as offline classes, but from better-trained teachers and better learning materials. Our teachers identified poor-performing learners and got them in tutoring so that they could catch up. 

For those who do not have internet access, our tutors provide tele-tutoring regularly. We also provide special tutoring services for dropout students and get them back to school.

Our work supports not only learners but around 1000 university-going students who get financial benefits from their service to our work.  

After completing Higher Secondary school, Farid Uddin wanted to go to the Middle East to have a job so that he can support his poverty-ridden family. Finding the support of BacBon E-learning, he later got a chance in Dhaka University, the highest academic institution in Bangladesh, and completing graduation, he is now earning a handsome salary. Our contribution did not just break the cycle of poverty in his whole family, but also in his next generation. His fate could have been otherwise and repeat the cycle of poverty had he not got the support in education. We have made a difference in thousands of lives similar to Farid Uddin. This is how we are contributing to our society and humanity as a whole. 

During this pandemic, we helped 1400 HSC students with our BacBon Tutors app with the support of e-Education. We have provided tele-tutoring to around 1500 dropout students, to assimilate them into mainstream education. If we make a change in one learner's life, it impacts his family, community, and humanity as a whole. He becomes a role model and inspires others to follow his steps. That is the counter cycle of inspiration we are creating to tackle poverty.